A new railway line between Manoharabad-Gajwel in Telangana has been completed and commissioned. The newly constructed line is part of the Manoharabad-Kottapalli rail line project.
The new rail line project was sanctioned in 2016 for a distance of 151 km with a detailed estimated cost of Rs 1,160 crore. The foundation stone was laid by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2016.
The entire project is being executed in five phases, and Phase-I between Manoharabad-Gajwel for a distance of 31 km has been completed.
Commissioning of the new railway line will provide impetus for socio-economic growth of the region and has brought unconnected areas into rail map.
Around 22 lakh cu mtr of earth work in embankment and 12 lakh cu mtr of earth work in cutting, including four lakh cu mtr of rock cutting, has been completed.
Apart from this, a total 61 bridges were constructed including four major bridges and 45 minor bridges. All the surface level crossings were avoided by providing major and minor RUBs and ROBs. Also, tunnel audit was undertaken to facilitate the underground irrigation canal system of Kaleswaram project.
The work on the project commenced in 2018 and section of 31 km was completed within a record time of two years. The project also includes rehabilitation of houses at Appayapally village and planning of diversions across NH-44, the longest North-South National Highway connecting Kashmir and Kanyakumari.
Moreover, Manoharabad junction station was commissioned well in advance to ease the rail panels movement into the section.
For the first time on South Central Railway, a bow string girder of span 51 mtr was launched near Gajwel outer ring road to facilitate the planning to be executed by the Gajwel Urban Development Authority. Also, pre-stressed concrete (PSC) girders casting depot was established in advance to avoid delay in construction of bridges. Around one lakh cu mtr of ballast was collected in advance for linking the track.
Manoharabad-Gajwel new rail line connects Manoharabad in Medak district and Gajwel in Siddipet district with enroute two halt stations, namely Nacharam and Elkal Begumpet. In order to complete the new line a total 500 acre has been acquired in a span of one year from Medak and Siddipet districts.
Manoharabad-Kottapalli rail line project passes through hinterland areas of five districts connecting towns such as Gajwel, Siddipet, textile hub i.e. Sircilla and temple town Vemulawada.
Once the project is completed, it will provide direct and shortest rail connectivity to Karimnagar from the capital city of Telangana.
This is a cost-sharing project with two-third cost borne by the Railways and third cost by the state government. The total land for the project is being provided free of cost by the state government, including annuity for the first five years.
The five phases include – Phase-I Manoharabad-Gajwel (31 km), Phase-II Gajwel-Kodakandla (10 km), Phase-III Kodakandla-Siddipet (34 km), Phase-IV Siddipet-Sircilla (37 km), and Phase-V Sircilla-Kothapalli (39 km).